Blog Post #3

To be an advocate is to speak out on behalf of a cause. Amy Arellano demonstrates this excellently in a series of poems regarding women and their rights (2013). However, her gender might influence how readers process her work. Since Arellano is a woman, it gives her credibility and allows her to connect with her audience. In Communication: A Critical/Cultural Introduction, the writers explain that “if we conflate differences and opposition, we pit our differences against each other in ways that are unnecessarily combative” (Fasset & Warren, 2015, p. 241). Essentially, differences make it more difficult to communicate with an audience. For example, if Arellano was a man, readers might question why she is so passionate about her topic, and they may not take her writing as seriously. Arellano’s gender makes it easier to relate to her female audience and the cause she is supporting. To advocate for a cause, an individual must share commonalities with the audience they are trying to reach or possess an understanding of the issues that their audience is facing.

When an individual is advocating for a cause that they know nothing about or can’t relate to, it can be easily mistaken for a joke. An example of this would be a video made by CollegeHumor that shows a dog asking a teenage girl not to smoke marijuana (2008). Although the video doesn’t mention that the dog is advocating for an organization, he is technically advocating for the CADCA or the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America. However, it is apparent that the video is a joke. The joke is emphasized by the fact that the dog isn’t human, but is speaking with a human voice and would not likely understand what is happening in actuality. If the dog had been replaced with someone qualified to speak about the topic such as a doctor, the video would have appeared to be more serious. A person or a dog can’t successfully advocate for a cause if they aren’t qualified in any way to speak about it.

While unqualified advocates can ruin a cause, advocates who understand a cause and share similarities with their audience are more impactful. For instance, a controversial topic about America’s growing wild horse population is addressed in a video by NBC News. Some think that the horses should be slaughtered or put on birth control, while others such as wild horse advocate, Lyn McCormick, think that more money should be invested in the wild horses. During the video, McCormick introduces the viewer to one of her horses and also explains which of her horses are mustangs and domestics (2017). It’s obvious that McCormick knows about the subject, so it is easier to for the viewer to trust what she’s saying. If McCormick didn’t also own horses, it might be tempting for an audience to disregard her perspective. Since McCormick shares these similarities with her audience, she is able to effectively reach them.

In these videos, it is incredibly obvious that advocacy can go south if it’s not done properly. The video from CollegeHumor was a perfect example of advocacy when it isn’t done right. One of the reasons the advocacy was a failure was because the dog had no similarities with the teenage girl. He also didn’t understand any of the issues she was facing and turned a serious issue into a joke. In more effective examples, such as Lyn McCormick’s advocacy of wild horses, she shares similarities with the audience. McCormick is trying to reach people who care about horses and she is powerfully persuasive. Successful advocacies are ones where the advocate and the audience stand united.

References

Arellano. A. (2013). “Word Wielding Womb: Using the Body to Fight the War on Women.” Cultural Studies  ↔ Critical Methodologies, 15. Retrieved from https://blackboard.boisestate.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-5214787-dt-content-rid-26098716_1/courses/1183-14996COMM1601070/1183-14996COMM1601070_ImportedContent_20180108011346/Arellano%20%282013%29.pdf.

[CollegeHumor]. (2008, May 22). Anti-Drug Dog [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_t8DvM2kX8&list=FLPiYe2km-M9yATha95y2Tyg&index=278.

Fasset, D.L., & Warren, J.T. (2015). Communication: A Critical/Cultural Introduction (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

[NBC Left Field]. (2017, June 19). America's Wild Horse Population Is Skyrocketing, and Nobody Can Agree How to Fix It: NBC Left Field [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn9-koWzEr0.